The following article was recently published by Greenstone's client Sustainable Homes.

In a world awash with data, choosing the appropriate indicators to measure and monitor makes all the difference in improving business performance. Traditionally, financial metrics have been the single most important tool in measuring an organisation’s and even a country’s success. This has started to change in the last few decades due to growing concerns around environmental and social impacts of businesses. An increasing number of investors now demand data on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance just as they would request key financial information. [1, 2]

Since the introduction of the GHG Protocol’s new guidance on Scope 2 emissions in 2015, companies have had the opportunity to report the emissions associated with their electricity consumption in a way that more accurately reflects their purchasing choices; the market-based approach.

This means electricity obtained from a low-carbon supplier can now be reflected in your Scope 2 reporting. However, there has been a lot of confusion on how to calculate and report market-based emissions, particularly when it comes to purchased renewable electricity.